Train Up your children in the way they should go and they will not depart from it.

     So much has happened since I last made an entry on this blog.  Time goes by so fast.  I see my boys in their activities and wonder where the time goes.  I get so wrapped up in the political news and the economic turmoil.  I wonder how much of that crap my kids or any other kid for that matter even pays attention to it.  Unfortunately, I can't use my own experience as an example, because I don't  remember a time when i didn't pay attention to it.  That's probably why I don't have the greatest health in the world.  I'm stressed, over weight and have high blood pressure.  I really wish life was more carefree.

     I worry that I won't be able to teach my kids the things they really need to know before they grow up or before I croak.  That's why I go through the process of doing this rite of passage thing with the boys.  When Jake turned 13, I took him out to eat at a nice Italian restaurant with a good friend of ours, sat him down and told him some things that I expected from him, gave him some key scriptures to become familiar with some new freedoms that he would have access to now that he is older.  I get to do this same process with Sam come July of this year when he turns 13.

     When Jake turned 16 this past October I did phase II of the rite of passage with him.  This time I took him  out to his Uncle Bob's farm and we shot all kinds of guns.  He's a great shot and I think he really enjoyed that.  Again, Bob and I took him to a Mexican restaurant this time.  We discussed the rights and responsibilities of turning 16 and driving.  We also discussed how he needs to become more responsible around the house.  We even swerved into how he she treat girls, especially those whom he may have an interest in.  There are a few more freedoms that come with responsibilities as well.

     I think when Sam turns 13 and I go through the first phase of the rite of passage with him I am really going to stress to him the need to know scriptures.  I want him to know the Ten Commandments and some key verses to refer to in the middle of spiritual warfare.  Times are tough.  I truly believe that two things are true.  We all need to rely on memorized scripture to get us through the tough times in life.  I also want him to know about what is said in the United States Constitution.  If more people would truly follow what is said in the Holy Bible and the Constitution, we would all be in a much better place in this life.

     There is no way that in the human condition I am in that I'll be able to teach them all they really need to know.  If I can get them to get into the word, and follow the Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, they just might have a chance of turning out okay.  My family has declared that Proverbs 3:5 is our verse for this year where it says Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.  My goal is to get enough of the Bible into them that the devil can't take their soul and that they know enough about the founding fathers of this great nation and what is in the Constitution that no one can take their freedoms away from them.

     I want the boys to be equipped with the full armor of God before they head out into the real world.  Initially, I wanted to go through 4 phases of the rite of passage with the boys, until Jake informed me he wants to go into the military at age 18.  I couldn't hardly send him off to defend his country and then come back just so I can declare him to be a man.  I will finish the process off  when the boys turn 18 and officially declare them to be a man, but they must be prepared to face the real world as mighty men of valor.

     If anyone wants any information on how I got involved in this whole process, please get in touch with me. It's one of my all time favorite subjects to discuss just like my boys.  I will walk you through the rite of passage process or give you any reference material you want.  I just feel it is so important to prepare our sons properly or they will get devoured by the world or the Devourer himself.

The Time Has Finally Come

    The United States Constitution says that every four years we shall hold an election for our nation.  I know there are plenty of people that just wish this whole election thing was just over and done with.  Many people are so tired of seeing the ads on t.v., hearing the political pundits yell about the candidates and watching the candidates tell lies about their opponent (or even tell the truth about their opponent).

     My feeling on this whole process boils down to this:  I'm proud to be an American, where at least, I know I'm free.  Yeah, there are way too many commercials about the candidates.  Yeah, it does get annoying listening to each side rip apart the other side.  Yeah, they do spend way too much time and money running for a position that pays a lot less than what they spend to get the job.  But, at least we do still have the freedom to spout off against our leadership.  We still have the freedom to assemble to support our favorite candidate.  We still have the freedom wear the buttons and litter our cars with bumper stickers.  For all of that, I thank God every day for our freedoms.  This may not be a perfect country or system, but it's still the greatest country and the most free system in the world.

     I watch the news daily.  I take in as much political junk as I can from both sides of the aisle.  I read the posts on facebook from my political friends.  It has become a sport for me much like what football is to a Sunday afternoon couch potato.  Sometimes it's more than I can stomach.  For those who are very close to me you know how big that stomach truly is.  I feel I am as informed as a voter can really be.

     Much has been said about the disastrous mess that President Obama inherited from George W. Bush.  It's true.  We have gone through some of the worst economic times of most of our lives.  This supposedly has been the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression of the 1930's.  Housing has been in the dumper.  Unemployment has been sky high.  Gas prices are at their highest levels ever.  We have more than $16 Trillion in debt.  Not to mention the non-economic conditions we find ourselves in fighting  2 wars.  Iran is on the brink of creating what could be a nuclear Holocaust.  Syria is killing its own citizens.  The Muslim Brotherhood and the Arab Spring have consumed northern Africa.

     I want to spend a little bit of time discussing each of these points.  Regardless of what most people think, Big Banks and George W. Bush did not cause the housing market melt down.  What truly caused that is a very deep convoluted act that is too complex to get into by the name of Frank-Dodd caused the burst of the housing bubble because it forced Big Banks to give sub-prime loans to people who could never afford to pay the loans back.  Foreclosures exploded and a glut of housing flooded the market driving down prices.  As for Unemployment...When GWB was president it topped out at 5.5% and the media told us the world was coming to an end.  We were told that by spending 1 TRILLION Dollars of future generationS' money then the unemployment rate would never get above 8%.  Now we have gone through more than 40 months of the unemployment rate not getting below 8%.  And if you would use the true U6 number (which is again way to complicated to explain here) it would still be closer to 15%.  As for gas prices; on inauguration day 2009 gas prices averaged $1.89 per gallon.  Now they are nearly $4 per gallon.  As for the wars, we have pulled out of Iraq and Osama Bin Laden is dead, but that does not mean terrorism no longer exists.

     The Arab Spring inspired by and taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood was suppose to mean democracy had finally blossomed in the Arab world.  Assad in Syria continues to kill his own people and now we have a huge scandal still brewing with an Ambassador killed in Bengazi.  None of these situations have been addressed.  In fact cover up after cover up has come about.  We seem to be cow towing to the Arab world.  Our president was caught on a live mic telling a Russian leader he had to get through 1 last election and then he would have more flexibility.  What does he mean by that?  What isn't he willing to tell the American people he is going to do?  What assistance will he actually give to Iran to help them obliterate Israel?

     Yes, President Obama inherited quite a mess, but he has also made matters much worse.  I do believe he volunteered for this very position.  If he didn't want it or didn't think he could actually do anything about making it better, he should not have run for president in the first place.  if he gets re-elected who will he blame for the mess he inherited this time around?

     After all the bickering.  After all the annoying ads.  After all the debates and the candidates explaining what they can do for America,  The time has finally come.  The time to elect a man who has experience in solving problems, creating jobs and dealing with a opposite party Congress has come.  The time has come to elect the next President of the United States...Mitt Romney.

Voice of Truth

Oh what I would do to have the kind of strength to stand before a giant. Surrounded by a thousand warriors. Shaking in their armor.  Never thinking I'd have the strength to stay.  The voice of truth tells me a different story.  The voice of truth says do not be afraid.  This lyric may sound familiar to many of you.  This is precisely what happened on Wednesday August 1, 2012 all over America.  There was a mighty voice of freedom and if you looked real close you could see that they were surrounded by a thousand or more warriors standing up for the voice of truth.

     There has been much said about the tiff between the CEO of Chick-fil-a and the gay activist of the world.  Just because the leader of what happens to be a primarily Christian company came out and made a stance for traditional marriage.  A unity of 1 man and 1 woman in holy matrimony.  The mayors of Chicago, Boston and Washington D.C. have come out and said they would not want Chick-fi-a franchises in their towns due to the CEO's stance on traditional marriage.  Since when does any level of government get to dictate anything due to one's practicing of his freedom of speech?  And how can a simple mayor say that his proclamation is the opinion of the majority of the people in his city?

     I was thrilled to see the turn out on Chick-fil-a Appreciation Day.  There may have been a couple of reasons for people showing up and supporting this franchise.  Some may have come to just stand up for our freedom of speech.  Others however,  showed up because they also believe in Traditional Marriage.  What ever the reasoning, I'm thrilled to see people stand up for their rights as Americans and for what is right as Christians.

     I am wondering if, by chance, the same fervency will appear at the polls come November?  That again, will be a time to speak the voice of truth.  I hope that we can be surrounded by a thousand warriors.  They may be shaking in their armor, but if they have the strength to stay, stand up for what's right, and vote for the next leader of this great nation of ours, then the voice of truth made be heard again very loudly.  We as Christians need to pray for just that occurrence and aspire to inspire before we expire.

Venture Socialism is what the government practices when it confiscates our money to contribute to companies like Solyndra and buy companies like GM.

When businessmen like Mitt Romney make those investments it's with their own money.

The only way the federal government even has money is by taking it from people who earn it through taxation.

When businessmen risk money it's their own.  When the government does it in the Venture Socialism they are risking the money they took from others.  Not only do they steal from this generations but now they have taken trillions from the next generations.

Venture Capitalists participate in the free market.  Venture Socialists rob from others to re=distribute to others still and in the process pay back cronies who have supported them in the past.  Venture Capitalists invest in the future of the employees and the investors.  Venture Socialist invest in their own future by paying back the people who got them into power in the first place.

Venture socialism must be stopped.
Venture Capitalists create jobs.
Mitt Romney was a Venture Capitalist...he created jobs.
BHO is a Venture Socialist who redistributes wealth and pays back cronies not caring about employees.

Venture Capital vs. Venture Socialism

     There has been much said recently about what Mitt Romney did while he was working in the business world.  He ran a company called Bain Capital. Bain capital worked with and took over failing companies to see if they could turn them around.  It could be said that we have seen recent examples of that from the U.S. Government.  I would like to explain the difference between the two.
   
     A venture, simply put, is an opportunity that when invested in it and nurtured could turn into a profitable entity.  People invest in opportunities every day in a free market society. To me that's what makes the business world go around.

     Mitt Romney worked for and even ran the venture capital company called Bain Capital.  The sole purpose of this business was to seek out other businesses that had become weak or were close to failing.  They would check out these businesses to see if they felt they had potential with enough money invested into it and the proper nurturing like a new management team or at least fresh ideas being pumped into it so it could be turned around well enough to begin making a profit again.  Bain would invest in businesses of all sizes and either change personnel or work with the existing personnel  to get it turned around.  We are still talking about a human element so some times they failed and some times they would succeed.

     Fortunately for Bain and Romney, the success rate for their company was much greater than its failure rate.  They took over more companies that would eventually turn a profit and in turn employ more workers than those that failed and had to let workers go.  In this sense you could say that the decisions that Romney made at Bain Capital allowed him to create jobs.  In other words more people were working at these taken over businesses than what would have been had the business been allowed to fail on its own.

     Businessmen like Mitt Romney and others invested their own money or money that they had raised from other people in the business world to invest in or buy out other companies.  Once they made that investment obviously they wanted the business they invested in to succeed, make a profit and pay back the other investors with a dividend.  If that investment turned a profit, that set of investors would be willing to invest in yet another business and do the whole process over again.  The more businesses succeeded the more workers could be employed at each of these businesses.  Some businesses, however would fail along the way and the people working at those businesses would lose their job.  In a sense is was a gamble, a risk that investors were willing to take.  One of the first axioms learned in any business school is the greater the risk the greater the return.  Any time you have humans making decisions you still run a risk of making mistakes and failures do occur.

     One thing we have seen in the past few years is something that has rarely ever been tried in American history.  Where it has been tried in other countries it has failed.  That is a government take over or bail out of a private company.  Since the economy's slide in 2007, The united States government has "invested" in more companies probably more than any other time in its history.  The largest take over would have to be buying out General Motors.  But there have been many other attempts from the federal government to "invest" in other companies.  One that was prominent in the news was the investment in a solar company called Solyndra.  This is what I call Venture Socialism.

     In a free market society, individuals or at least companies owned by individuals make a financial investment into a product or service that they hope will make money so they can do several things:  Make more investment to make more money, provide a needed product or service to the market and employ workers.  Note the main goal of a company is not to employ people, it's to make money.  In the case of General Motors and Solyndra it was not individual people or even a business that was run by individuals that made an investment, it was the United States government that made the investment.  The problem here is that the U.S. government does not by itself have any money.  The only way the U.S. government has any money is if it takes it from individuals who actually go out and earn money.

     Just as before in the Venture Capital investment of Bain Capital and similar companies, there was a risk taken by investing into these companies, such as GM or Solydra.  Again the greater the risk, hopefully the greater the reward.  There are two problems with this Socialist Venture though.  One is that Solyndra had already collapsed before our government dumped a half a billion dollars down the Solyndra toilet.  Where did that money go?  It paid back contributors to the Democrat party.  The other problem with this scenario is that Obama and his minions confiscated the money they put at risk from hard working tax payers.  When a private sector businessman invest money and loses it's okay, because it's his money.  When the federal government does anything with money whether it's build a road or make a stupid investment in a company like Solyndra, it's using other people's money that they confiscated in taxes.  Any Socialist Venture is committing a crime because the money risked is some one else's money.  It needs to be stopped.

Gay Marriage or Unemployment: That is concern

     We went through the 2008 presidential campaign with one candidate espousing Hope & Change.  How is that Working for you?  That guy is back in the race again this year.  Even though it hasn't been officially decided, we also have another new guy in the presidential race for 2012.  No new slogan for this guy has been put out there yet.  In my opinion we really don't need another slogan if the results are going to be like the last guy who won with a slogan.

     I'm not 100% sold on the guy we have running against the guy with the hopey, changey slogan.  But I am sold on the fact that we can't afford 4 more years of this same guy in the White House.

  When Barack Husein Obama took the oath of office for the Presidency of the USA, he made history.  He was the first African-American sworn in as President of the United States.  That's a great accomplishment!  I'm glad our country has evolved.  As far as I'm concerned as soon as he was sworn in that part of history is done.  At that same time gas had an average retail price nation wide was $1.87. Unemployment was nearly 7%.  Since then we have seen gas explode to a nation wide average of nearly $4 per gallon and unemployment sky rocketed to nearly 10% even with a massive stimulus bill that was passed because it would keep unemployment under 8%.

     Here we are less than 6 months away from yet another presidential election.  Rather than concentrating on that high jobless rate, those high gas prices, and the fact that this president has created a situation that has placed more people on food stamps than any other time in American history; we are clamoring for this president's opinion on gay marriage.  What difference does it make whether BHO approves of gay marriage or not. That is other than the fact that he is the first President to make such a bold statement.  Were the gays going to vote for the other guy had BHO not came out and said he was for gay marriage?  I don't think so!  But his timing on that issue was just in time for a big Hollywood fund raiser.

     Unfortunately the so-called "alternative media"  fell for his diversionary tactic.  The  right wing conspirators fell right in line with his plan by paying attention to that social issue rather than hammering on the poor economy.  It's still the economy, stupid.

     I literally cannot afford 4 more years of this guy as president.  It is next to impossible for me to even do my job.  With the gas prices as high as they are for as long as they have been, I have a hard time filling my tank to go out to do my job.  With the gas prices being as high as they are, no one has any extra money to buy the things in a convenience store that I sell.
 
      Because the unemployment rate is so high, there are so many people who cannot afford to spend money on any extras.  Those extras are what fuels my pay check.  Because so many people have been out of work for so long the job market has shrunk substantially.  In past recessions the unemployment rate went down because after a while a substantial number of people actually went back to work.  Now, the only reason the unemployment rate goes down is because the job market has shrunk substantially.  Many jobs are just flat out not available any more.  There are nearly 88 million people out of work.  Let's look at it in simpler terms.  Say at 1 time there were 15 jobs in the whole market, and 3 people needed jobs.   As the economy worsens and places decide they will not be hiring as many people.  There are now 10 jobs in the whole economy and 3 still need jobs.  The unemployment rate actually goes down because there are fewer jobs in the market.  There are no more people working than before but the percentage of workers needed for the jobs available has gone down.  If the numbers weren't monkeyed with the real unemployment rate would actually be closer to 14% .  For what ever reason the media wants this guy to look good so they don't report bad news.  If gas prices had sustained themselves for this long and the unemployment rate was this high when W was in office the media would be screaming.

     Romney is not my ideal candidate for president.  He does have a business background.  He does have a success story behind him for saving the Olympics.  We need some sort of hope for our nation to continue to be the strongest nation on this earth.  That also means that a change has to occur come November or we will become a more Socialized nation.  I can easily see this guy over turning the rest of the Constitution and say it's too much of an emergency.  They would have to suspend any future elections and he would declare himself leader for life.  We cannot let this happen.  We need the ideals of our founding fathers to hold true.  We need to take back our country and adhere to the Judeo-Christian values our country was founded on.  We need to reduce taxes and regulations so there is not such a strangle hold on businesses.  We need to throw out the current healthcare law and forget about any idea of a government run healthcare system.  Let's get American back to work and not worry about what this or any other president has to say about gay marriage.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Well I'm writing this for all who follow my blog, because at 80 years of age my mom does not have internet. All of us, have or at least did have a mom. so this is a tribute to my mom but please take it as a tribute to all the moms out there.

February 25, 1932 my mom was born in Lincoln, IL. All of my growing up years my brother and I teased her about how old she was. That she was really born in Postville, because Lincoln wasn't around yet. That she really helped Betsy Ross sow the first flag. The truth is she isn't, even at 80, she is not old...in fact she is timeless.

Like many women of her era and maybe even some today, my mom was a jack of all trades as she stayed at home to raise 3 kids. She was a cook, nurse, care taker, chauffeur, seamstress, maid, waitress, teacher and arbitrator. Sometimes she was judge and jury. She took care of us kids when we were sick and took care of our animals when we were too sick or maybe even too lazy to take care of them. I was raised on a small farm so not only did we have the traditional pets of cats and dogs, but we also had pigs and calves that had to be tended to as well.

People would ask if she worked and she would modestly say no she just stayed at home. But staying at home meant that she probably worked harder than most did outside of the home. Not only did she do all the above things, but there was always laundry to be done, meals to be cooked, cleaning up after meals and she also mowed the grass and worked in the garden as well. I guess you could also throw in accountant or at least bookkeeper since she was also the one who paid all the bills, too.

I wonder what the value of a mom like that would be? If you tallied up the pay for each of those careers mentioned above, I'm sure the pay would be well over $2 million dollars a year. What ever that amount would be still would not be enough. The value of a mom who would do all of that and more is absolutely priceless.

Even after doing all of these tasks, chores and acts of love, after being a stay at home mom, she still had the time to go with us on school field trips. Whenever there was a need at school for a chaperon, there she was first to volunteer. After all, she is just a stay at home mom.

I can remember many times as a kid when I had to stay home from school because I was sick. that could have been with an ear ache, sore throat, stomach flu or any other ailments that hit kids or at least this kid. My mom would always be there for me to nurse me back to health. She would make dry toast and tea or chicken noodle soup or keep a constant supply of tissues or Pepto Bismol available for whatever was ailing me. Many of you know that when I was a senior in high school, I was in a very severe accident that nearly made me lose my right leg. My dad stayed with me in the hospital the first 10 days I was there; never leaving my bedside. But it was my mom who would drive to the hospital every morning. That was a 45 minute trip on a clear day, but this was in the fall and winter so who knows how bad the roads were. Every evening she would have to leave the hospital early enough to be able to get home to do chores. That would be to feed and water the pigs and the calves plus the ones my mom called the wild animals, the cats and dogs. It pained her to a.)have to see me in the hospital, b.) have to leave me behind in the hospital and c.) go home to take care of all of those family chores. But she never complained.

She never complained about anything. It was as if she was a gift from God to us. It was as if the gift from God to her was the privilege it was to have the opportunity to do all of that. She spent all of her time taking care. Taking care of 3 kids as were growing up. Taking care of my ailing dad the last 2 years of his life. Now it's her turn to take care of herself. she spent all of my growing up years as Wonder Woman. As she has aged she has now become the Bionic Woman due to her new hips and knees and now with stainless steel rods in her back.

Well I said all of this as a tribute to her. I guess it's really about time that she had some recognition given to her for all the wonderful things she has been and done for us kids. Now it's time to say a BIG THANK YOU to her. I guess the best way, the only way that she would want me to really do that is by saying. I LOVE YOU. MOM. Happy 80th Birthday to you.

Teens, The Bible and The Rite of Passage

     The teenage years.  A time of fun, change and challenges.  It seems like a life time ago for me and now I will soon have a teenager of my own who will  be 16 years old.  Did you know that there were at least 29 prominent teenagers discussed in the Bible?  Many of them I never really thought of as being teenagers because of the feats of bravery they performed were that of an adult nature.  These feats seemed to automatically give them a rite of passage into adulthood.  The Jewish faith celebrates a rite of passage at or around the age of 13 known as a bat mitzvah for a girl and a bah mitzvah for a boy that declares officially that the child has become an adult.  If you are not of the Jewish faith, how do you know when you become a man?  Is it when you are able to drive?  When you have your first drink of alcohol, when you get married?  How do you know that you are a man if no one has ever declared you as one?

     I never had the luxury or the honor of going through any kind of an official ceremony that declared me to be a man.  I would suspect that would be the case for many of us.  That holds nothing bad against my dad or any of the parents of previous generations.  I think it was just assumed that you knew.  My father's generation didn't have the tools needed to truly raise kids.  They did the best they could with what they had to work with, but I really think they had to leave a lot to chance or pure luck.  I think they tried to teach the principles in life that were taught to them like hard work, loyalty and even generosity, but they didn't really pass on everything that it took so that in the end a boy truly knew when he became a man.  This to me is the biggest explanation for why society sees boys doing the things that they do so they can prove to others and more importantly to themselves that they are a man.  Boys end up getting into trouble or at a very minimum try things that they shouldn't just because they are trying to prove that they have become a man.  Boys drink, smoke, have sex, shoot guns, drive fast, etc. all to prove to others and themselves that they can, that they have become a man.

     There are at least 29 teens of prominence in the Bible.  Some of them did great and wonderful things in their teen age years that projected them into even more prominence in adulthood.  Some of these examples include Joseph, David, Mary, Samuel and even Moses.  Their stories are discussed especially in the book of Genesis in the Bible others even have entire books in the Bible describing their great feats.  Some of those teens were exemplified in the stories just because they were so young like Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego.  Their stories can be read about in the book of Daniel in the Bible.  And there were others that were mentioned and never really discussed again because of their life changing or even ending such as in the story of Cain and Abel.  Most of these stories talk about how these and the others not listed here that were equally great performed acts of heroism or bravery. I think it's important for kids today to examine the feats the teens of the Bible performed.  to give them the inspiration needed to go out and do the same sorts of things in today's society.  My goal is to write a book detailing these feats to let today's kids know what they could be doing with their lives to project themselves into a bright future.  A future destined to please God and to develop the characteristics that God looks for so they can be declared to be an adult. 

     T.D, Jakes is one of the more prominent African-American pastors, speaker and author in the U.S. today.  He tells a story of how a father's duty in raising a son is very similar to archery.  The bow and the quiver are the tools he uses to train up his son in the way he should go.  The boy is the arrow that the archer projects toward the target of life.  Once he hits the target he is a man. Robert Lewis is an author and pastor who wrote a book called Raising a Modern Day Knight.  This book was my reference and guide to developing steps towards a rite of passage for my sons into adulthood.  Lewis' book lays out steps for a father to take in teaching his son Biblical principles so that he grows up to be a true man of God.  The book culminates in going through an actual ceremony in three or four phases of life so the father can ultimately declare his son to be a true man of God, an official adult.  Another Pastor, Dr. Charles (Chuck) Stecker is the founder of A Chosen Generation and has his own version of a rite of passage.  This is a group passage for teens of a church to be welcomed into adulthood of the local church.  This passage allows them to be included into even the decision-making process of a church.  This assures them of a continued participation in church life.  Many kids are "forced" to go to church but when they get older are given a choice as to whether or not they do go.  Many of them do not choose to go in their teen years and that's when they get into trouble.  By having a church body welcome the teens into the church family of adults they tend to feel part of the church more.   

     I am in the planning stages of putting the next step in the rite of passage for Jake together because he will turn 16 in October.  There is nothing legalistic about any of this as to exactly when you  need to do this with your sons.  These are merely guidelines.  As he gets older I will put even more responsibility on him, but along with that comes more freedom.  It's up to me to lay the groundwork and set the boundaries.  I will be more forceful in the challenges I set before him to put him on a path to be a true man of God.  The final phases will be geared more towards setting goals and talking to him about real life issues to prepare him for the real life ahead of him.  When it is all over and I can truly declare him a man, Lewis describes in his book a ceremony of presenting the new man with the full armor of God.  I intend on presenting my sons with actual armor and explain to them what each piece means as to what the Bible says about putting on the full armor of God.  This will prepare him to ward off the arrows and attacks in life.  As a knight I will officially declare to him he is a man.

     If any one would like any more of the details involved with my specific process.,please feel free to ask and I would be thrilled to discuss it with you.  If you want o read more about this information Lewis and Stecker's books are available on line in in Christian book stores.  I just feel it is so important to let our kids know what is expected from them and to declare that they are men.  If they know who they are in God's eyes maybe they won't have to do the things others think they have to do to try to prove that they are a man.

The Power of Prayer

     Do you believe in the power of prayer?  Do you really even know how to pray?  Jesus taught His disciples to pray by implementing what we now refer to as the Lord's Prayer which is the following:  Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  Forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.  That is from the ultimate teacher.  A modern day teacher is a man by the name of  Bob Sorgee.  Bob wrote a book called The Secret of the Secret Place.  In that book he tells the reader that each one of us needs to find that special place and time to pray daily.  He lays out his ideas of the proper way to pray.

     When I get a tug at my heart that tells me that I need to take time to draw closer to my God, that I need to take some time to pray to Him, I like take the thoughts of both of these teachers and pray.  There are times that I feel the need to pray, but I just don't know how to or what it is I should say.  How do I start?  What should I say?  Those are the times that I simply start out by reciting the Lord's Prayer.  After all it lays out the things we have the most need for any way.  It acknowledges that we have a great and holy God, God the Father that is all around us in heaven.  It says that we want God's kingdom to be magnified and that we want God's will to be the same here on earth as it is in heaven.  It acknowledges God for our very sustenance by thanking Him for our food and water and the air we breathe.  It acknowledges that we need to forgive the people who have sinned against us and we ask for forgiveness from God for when we have sinned against Him and our fellow man.  Then it acknowledges the fact that our whole Christian walk should hinge on staying away from the temptations of life as we focus on God.  After all of this some how the Holy Spirit seems to flood me with the other areas that I need to really pray about.  The needs of others,  the salvation of souls and the praising of the God that provides all of those things.

     There are times that I implement the thoughts of the modern day teacher, Bob Sorgee, as well.  Sorgee's teachings included the following principles.  First find a quiet place that you can retreat to that is away from the distractions of your daily life.  Find a place where you can pray that you will not be interrupted by the phone, your kids, the t.v. or the radio.  This can be a closet, your study or office, your car wherever you can go to be alone with just God.  The next thing you need to do that seems to be helpful to inspire prayer is to get into the Word.  Daily devotions keep us in tune with God is saying to us.  It is life's road map and is as alive and applicable today as it was when it was written.  As for how you should pray, according to Sorgee, is to pray scripture back to God.  Start by saying "It says in your word..."  God wants to commune with you and it pleases Him to know that His word is hidden in your heart.  That way you will be less inclined to sin against Him and you can use His Word as a sword of the Spirit, that any time the devil rears his ugly head in your life you can use that Word to slay him under your feet.

     The verses I tend to pray back to Him are as follows.  This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.  The steps of the righteous man are ordered of the Lord. and I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  After I pray those verses back to him I like to thank Him for the blessings He gives me.  At the end of that I return every blessing He gives me back to Him in praise.  So I give Him prayers of adulation and tell Him how great He is and how thankful I am that he is in my life.
 
     I have always had a tendency in my life to take a negative attitude towards things.  So one of the first things I pray actually against each day is that He would take away any negative thoughts that may enter my mind, any negative feelings that may try to enter my heart and take a way any words that might try to escape my mouth.  Each person has their own downfall.  This would be a good time to confess them to God and ask for His help to keep you from whatever weakness you may have.  I go through that part of the process with a thankful heart and again praise Him for taking that away from my life.



     The Bible also talks about the need for us to pray for our leaders.  So I take some time at the end of my time of prayer to lift up all of our soldiers all around the world.  I pray for their safety and ask God to bless them because they are the keepers of our freedoms in this nation.  I will also list the governmental agency that I feel are most responsible for the decisions made in our government.  I pray for salvation for these governmental officials and for wisdom and discernment so they make good decisions.  I also pray that the actions that they take are of strong character, high moral value and true integrity.  Again until I'm assured those prayers are answered I will pray without ceasing.  I end my prayers by asking for his forgiveness of my sins and that I would be more like Him.

     We serve a great and loving God, but He is also a very jealous God.  We need to continue to shower him with praise and adulation.  He loves to hear His own words prayed back to Him.  He wants us to have a thankful heart and He wants us to be specific in the petitions we have for Him to intervene in the situations and times of need for ourselves and our loved ones.  I have had so many loved ones who have needed things especially here recently.  People are always sick or hurting and need God's healing touch.  Loved ones are lost and people need the comfort of the Holy Spirit and there are so many other needs that need to be turned over to a loving, caring God.  We need to come to Him each day and lay our cares at His feet.  We have big problems, but thankfully we have a bigger God that can take care of those problems.  We also need to listen to what He says so we need to be in His word to hear from heaven so he can heal the hurts and lead us down the right path.  The ultimate goal is to be with Him in heaven, but for now we need to be able to bring a little bit of heaven here to those that need Him here on earth.  That would be every one.

Thank You, Vets

     One of the greatest things you can be in this world is be soldier in the the United States Marine Corp, U.S. Army, an Airman in the U.S. Air Force or sailor in the The U.S. Coast Guard or U.S. Navy.  These are truly the 1%.  Today on 11-11-11, we honor and give THANKS to everyone who has served or is currently serving in any of these branches.

     Each of us knows some one who has served in some capacity in each of these branches.  The ones that I personally know are as follows:

      Duane Hoffman (my dad) served in the Army during the Korean War
      Harold Teichmann (uncle) served as Gen. Douglas McCarthur's adjunct during World War II
     Ed Teichmann (uncle)  was a Major in the United States Marine Corps during World War II
     Ray Happ (uncle) served during World War II
     Ray Hoffman (uncle) served during World War II
     Booa Harkesen (wife's uncle) served during World War II
     Ed Schwarz  (wife's uncle) served during World War II
     Mike Ketelsen (wife's uncle) served in the Vietnam Era
     Roy Abbott (wife's brother) served in the USMC
     Ron Abbott (wife's brother)  served in the Coast Guard
     Mike Clark (wife's cousin) served in the USMC
     Kenny Clark (wife's cousin)  served in USMC

Today I honor and thank each of these vets and all of those people who have served or are currently serving and protecting the greatest nation on this earth, the United States of America.  We also need to thank all of their families for the sacrifices they gave so our country's freedoms could be protected. 
All gave some, Some gave all.  If you can read this now thank a teacher, since it is in English, Thank a Vet.

     There are thousands of soldiers in Afghanastan and Iraq who are currently serving or have recently served that we need to continually thank.  Sometimes these wars are so far away and out of sight, out of mind that we forget that these people are serving us every day.  I only wish we had more than 1 day per year to honor them.  I feel each of us should do our part by doing a few things that are very simple.  They are:  Take some time to approach any one you see in a military uniform any day of the week and thank them for their service.  Thank those on your personal list like the list I made above.  Let them know you appreciate their service so that blogs like this are still freely written, that we can freely worship God, that we can occupy any city for no particular reason.  Contribute to veteran's associations of your time, treasure and talents so the vets that return now know that we appreciate their efforts more than how we showed those who served in the days and years after they returned from Vietnam.  Share what you can with projects like wounded warriors or funds that provide for the families of those who are currently serving.

     Again, I thank and honor all who have served.  As you see above, I had a lot of family members who belong in that group.  My only regret is that I cannot be included on that list for any one.  Sometimes I truly wish I could have served in some capacity, but due to physical limitations, that was impossible.  My only hope is that my own children have the desire to protect and serve our nation.  I know that no family wants to give the ultimate sacrifice, but I do hope we continue to have those who are willing to serve to preserve the greatness our forefathers wanted for our nation.  God Bless our troops and God Bless America!!

Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

     Things aren't always as they seem.  I have been pondering this notion a lot in recent days.  If you really think about it and look around you, you can see this every where you turn.  Bare with me as I elaborate on this notion in the next several lines.

     As long as there has been any form of advertisement in this world, I believe this notion has held true.  Whether it was the caveman's etchings on the cave walls "talking" about the bear that he just clubbed or it is the t.v. commercial showing men how many women will want to be with them if they choose the right shaving cream.  In whatever the venue the art of advertising has always had some sort of deceitful picture portrayed in its message.

     Every four years our great land goes through a presidential campaign.  You may be a fan of this blood sport, but most people, however, are not so much.  Regardless of your particular stance on it you do have to admit that at least we are a free nation who gets to participate in this blood sport whether you agree with the tactics and mudslinging or not.  One thing most of us can probably agree on is that some where along the line at least one of the candidates in each presidential race could be classified as a wolf in sheep's clothing.
 
     I just read on facebook (one of my favorite dependable sources of hard hitting fact finding)  a line that I feel is very fitting for this very subject.  It goes something like this:  "All 16 year old girls need to be taught the difference between the boys that flatter her and the boys who compliment her."  Heck there are probably some 40 year olds that need to be taught that lesson for that matter.  But what the message is saying is you need to be on the look out for people, male or female who would do or say anything to schmooz you until you see things their way.  It's more important for you to surround yourself with the people who truly bring out the best in you.

     The art of deception or the master of being a wolf in sheep's clothing goes clear back to the beginning of time itself in the Garden of Eden.  The serpent came to the woman, Eve, and tempted her to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  He was trying to make her believe through his deceit that she could truly be god-like if she would simply do the one thing that God had commanded her not to do.  He was a smooth talker and introduced to Eve the first commercial message that made her do something just to get a desired result.  Of course where was Adam in all of this?  Passively standing by letting it all happen.  Then as he was confronted by God after the incident of the first sin in the world, he just blamed it all on the woman that God brought to him.  Everything was great in their little garden until she came along.  Unfortunately, all was just great in that little garden of theirs until the serpent came to tempt them.  Now the key is just to resist the urges of the great deceiver, the first wolf in sheep's clothing that still exists today.

     If you haven't guessed by now, or if you are not familiar with this concept of a wolf in sheep's clothing, I will tell you.  It is any one or anything that comes to flatter you and deceit you to have you believe a lie in order to get you to do something that you truly should not do or in order to win you over.  A sheep is a very, passive compliant animal that can be lead astray very easily.  A wolf is the enemy of the sheep and the sheep herder.  His only goal is to look out for number one and to devour his next meal.  Some times people will do what they can to fit in, to blend into their surroundings in a deceitful way in order to get their target comfortable with them so they can more easily devour the target at the most vulnerable moment.

     It says in Psalms 23 that the Lord is my shepherd...  It also says in the Bible that the Lord is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  That means he will never change.  It also says in His word never will I leave you nor forsake you.  We are surrounded by people every day who are wolves in sheep' clothing.  The key is don't be drawn in to their evil and deceitful ways.  Whether it is a stupid ad on the t.v., a politician trying to convince you to vote for him or some stupid guy trying to get you to do anything, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.  Every one of us is human therefore we are susceptible to the evil of the wolf in sheep's clothing.  Don't fall for it.  Do the right thing and ask God for his direction.    

FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH

     Where were you when the world stop turning on that September Day?  It has been said that September 11, 2001 was a "High Holy Day" because so many turned to prayer for solace and comfort when they didn't have any where else to turn.  Why is it we tend to turn to prayer as a last resort?  Well, I guess all we can do now is pray.  To me it should be the first, middle and last thing we should do and then thank God Almighty when we do come out of what ever we're going through.

     Some people have wondered what we did to deserve those attacks on September 11th.  One thing I feel we did started back in 1962 when the Supreme court ruled in a 6-3 decision to not allow prayer in the public school system.  In fact, I feel many of social problems and turmoil stem back to that decision.  The protective hand of God was lifted off of our nation at least temporarily.

     We serve a loving God; a just God.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  There are times, however that I feel that God wants to capture our attention.  He is a jealous God.  Ye shall worship no other gods before me.  There are points in time that God allows certain things to happen to recapture that attention so we will return to Him in prayer so he can receive all the glory.

     I remember very distinctly what I was doing that September morning back in 2001.  I was on my sales route going through my regular routine.  One of my stops had the T.V. on and of course all stations and all focus was on the twin towers repeatedly showing those planes flying into the World Trade Center towers.  Every one knew that their lives would never be the same from that point on.  Life in America as we knew was changed.  Even though I live in fly over country where no terrorist would begin to plot an attack due to the low concentration that would lead to minimal impact,  I was still affected.  For some loved ones around me the fact that this occurred on 911 a signal of emergency made a strong impression.  As of this day all would change.  Some of our freedoms would be infringed upon, travel would be incumbered by invasive inspections and many things would no longer be taken for granted.  Eventually millions of families would be affected knowing that their loved ones would be thrust into wars on several fronts trying to find the offenders and avenge the acts conducted on our soil that fateful day.

     In the days and weeks that followed things were very different.  In one sense many things occurred while in another sense nothing happened.  There was a flurry of activity out of panic and a flurry of inactivity due to uncertainty.  In New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.  the flurry of activity centered around search and rescue, recovery and the insuing consolation that needed to occur.  While the rest of the nation came to almost a complete stand still.  I lived at the time on a quiet side street in Clinton, IA that was situated behind  a gas station.  The gas line started at the station wrapped around the block and stretched down a full block that ran in front of my house.  Talk about coming to a stand still.  Those cars weren't going any where.  Even when they did creep towards the gas pump they came to the realization that gas price would sky rocket, the housing market would come to a skreetching halt and corporate America including the airlines came to a halt.  But on the activity side we saw several things occur.  Families reconnecting.  Friends reconnecting.  Prayer vigils were every where.  Churches were packed.  The eyes of America had turned to the solace of the one true healing God for comfort and peace.

     As with any tragedy, time heals all wounds.  Once people realized we weren't going to have armored tanks crawling over our hillsides and bombs weren't going to be detinated in our garbage cans and the panic mode had subsided, things went back to normal.  As the years have gone by we have let our guard down and we have gone back to living the life that we want.  About the only thing that is gripping us now is a down turn in the economy and tremedously high gas prices.

     As we approach the 10th anniversary of that fateful day, it is my wish, my hope and yes even my prayer that we will never forget the people who were directly affected by the events of that terrible day.  America lost nearly 3,000 people in that one day.  We lost regular citizens and many first responders.  We have since lost many soldiers that gave up the ultimate sacrifice that gives me the freedom to even spew this stuff now.  We lost a sense of innocense and security.  We have also now lost that touch with God.  It says in his word that if those who are called by name would simply bow down to me, humbly seek my face and turn away from their evil and wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land.  Who will stand with me in this charge?  Who will share His word, love our neighbor and touch lives around us in a positive way?  If this sort of action and attitude would spread world wide, we would really never have to worry about an attack like that any where ever again.  Of course that would have to mean that every knee would bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord  but wouldn't that be a wonderful world to live in.  Some say it would be heavenly.

Who is in Control of This Any Way?

     Our economy is in the pits!  Over the past 21/2 years a lot has been said about the origin of the poor economy.  Again last night, former Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs was asked to comment on the state of the economy.  He went back to the old refrain that it was Bush's fault.  I would like to examine this whole idea of the poor economy being Bush's fault.

     What did Bush do to ruin the economy?  I will examine several possible answers to this very question to see where the answers lead us.
     1.)  He had us fighting in 2 wars.  Wars cost.  Wars cost a lot.  They cost the tax payers money.  They cost soldiers their lives.   These wars almost cost GWB a second term in office.  It may be said that these wars were factors that lead us into a bad economy.

     2.) Bush spent too much.  Spending money on wars.  Spending money on prescription drugs for seniors.  Spending money in general increased our deficit.  The deficit could be said to have lead us into a bad economy.

     3.) Tax cuts twice during the Bush presidency may have lead us into the bad economy.

    Depending on which economists you talk to any of these three or the combination of any of these three policy items could very well have lead us into a bad economy.  When Bush left office unemployment was at 7.1%.  The housing bubble was starting to burst.  Deficits were mounting.  TARP spending had occurred.

     In 2008 we elected a new president who ran on a campaign slogan of Hope & Change.  The American people wanted a change in political parties.  They wanted a change in philosophy.  They wanted a change from the old guard in Washington D.C. from a family dynasty to a new face who had been a U.S. Senator for less than 2 years when he started running for the office of the President of the United States of America.  They put their Hope in Barack Husein Obama.  Let's look at the conditions that are in place now and what they have done to change the status of the economy.

     1.)  Obama has put us into 4 wars now.  The continuation of Iraq and Afganastan have gone against the promises to the "Left" that we would end them and be out has not come true.  The spending has mounted and continued.  The loss of life and other casualties have also continued.

     2.) The deficit has doubled in the last 2 years compared to the 8 years under the Bush presidency.  We've had 2 stimulous bills that did more to stimulate the government than they did to stimulate the American economy.  The stimulous spending was suppose to guarantee unemployment not to rise over 8%, but has now found its way up to 9.1%.  The shovel ready jobs that were suppose to have been created are laughed at by this administration as "not being quite as shovel ready as they thought they would be".  We now have written into law a government mandated national insurance program that is taxed over a 10 year period with 6 years of "benefits"  that when instigated was suppose to cut the deficit and the premiums of the insured, but now inflated the deficit even more and those same premiums are going up because of the uncertainty of the future.

     3.) Last Decemember in a vaction session of Congress, President Obama extended the Bush tax cuts.  These are the same tax cuts that were said to have added to the deficit and helped the rich croneys of GWB.

     Ok, I will grant the "Left" that some of the Bush policies especially towards the end of his presidency may have contributed to the lagging economy.  But 2 things and they are 2 big giant buts.  But the Housing Bubble that burst and splattered all over the financial markets was started by the democratically controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The policies written by Chris Dodd and Barney Frank to cure the social injustices of the poor to guarantee them the purchases of houses that everyone knew they could not afford lead to the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehmann Bros.  Those institution collapses started a dominoe effect of the continual crash of the housing market.  The housing bubble burst due to wreckless mismangement of government run agencies supprted by the policies put in place by Dodd and Frank.  The other But that is giant and cannot be ignored is the but if Bush's policies were so horrible and lead us into the worst economy since the Great Depression, why were they not only continued, but even doubled down after BHO took office?   We are spending even more money on even more wars.  We are adding to the deficit by spending money on stimulous packages that don't stimulate, but line the pockets of bureaucrats and union leader thugs.  The evil tax cuts that drove the economy down in the eyes of the left were extended by the current administration because they knew that letting them expire would lead to a greater drag on the economy.

     To me there is plenty of blame to go around every where.  We need some leadership in this country.  We need some one to lead us out of this mess by tightenting the government's belt.  We need a leader who will adhere to the confines of the Constitution by not mandating that the We the people not buy anything.  Who is that leader?  Who is the man or woman who will step up to the plate, take the bull by the horns, do the right thing and lead us out of this mess?   We need to be steered by some one who will let us have more of our own money.  Someone who will stimulate the economy not the government.  Someone who will stand by their convictions.  I feel as a nation we should do as the Bible says.  It says in His word, "if we bow down to Him, humbly seek His face, turn away from our wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven and heal our land.  Are you with me?
    

Thanks, but yet...no thanks

     Every one knows the abysmal state the budget in Illinois is in right now.  The state is $12billion in debt.  The legislature is doing everything it can to come up with new income streams.  Even if it means cutting into the pension fund of teachers and public servants.

     Every time you turn on a radio these days, at every commercial break you hear a message sponsored by the teacher's unions and the public servants such as policemen and fire fighters.  Every one should agree that we figuratively and literally owe a lot to all of these workers.  They all serve and work at thankless jobs.  The ads even say that Illinois has some of the best teachers in the country.  I love the bumper sticker that reads "If you can read this, thank a teacher.  If it's in English, thank a vet."  The ads go on to talk about how the Illinois legislature is at it again.  They are raiding the pension fund of these workers and using the fund as a credit card.

     Teachers do not qualify for social security and they have always contributed to their own pension fund.  Some teachers contribute up to 8-10% of their own annual income into the pension fund.  Teachers are not the highest paid workers in any state, but especially in the state of Illinois.  Teaching is not just a job.  It is a way of life.  These teachers spend so much more time in the classroom and at home preparing for what they are going to teach our young minds full of mush and grading papers than what the 7:45-3:15 schedule that says they have to be in the classroom.  For all of this and everything they do, I give all teachers my undying thanks and gratitude for teaching our kids.  They accept the lower pay throughout their careers in exchange for what should be a nice pension during their retirement.  They have made their contributions consistently all along, just for our state legislators to use their pension fund as a credit card.  Now that some of them are ready to retire and dip into that pension fund the funds may not be there. 

     The radio ads go on to talk about how hard the teachers work, how they contribute to their own retirement and how the funds may not be there due to what the state government is doing to their pension fund. The ads also talk about wanting people to contact their legislators to get them to stop this practice.  They also have a website that you can refer to to learn more about this situation and I'm sure they would appreciate contributions so they can fight this practice in the courts or legislature. Who are these people that are "raiding" the pension fund? 

     Just a little bit a of a civics lesson here.  The Illinois legislature is made up of two houses, the State Senate and the General Assembly.  And then there is the Executive branch that has the governor.  The 97th General Assembly has 177 members of which 99 are Democrats and 78 are Republicans and the governor is a Democrat.  There are 35 Democrats in the Senate compared to 24 Republicans.  There are 64 Democrats in the House compared to 54 Republicans.  Statistics show that the teacher's unions, the IEA, and the NEA tend to contribute the majority of their campaign contributions to the Democratic Party.  Why would they continue to do this if these are the same people, according to their own ads, these legislators are raiding their pension fund?

     Again, I cannot stress my gratitude toward teachers for their dedication and service.  I don't, however, appreciate our legislators raiding their pension funds to put to use in other budgetary needs.  I also don't appreciate the unions continuing to contribute funds to the campaigns of the same people who have raided those pension funds.  Stop it!  Stop using the teacher's pensions for other budget short falls.  And unions stop supporting those same people who are doing it!
 
     The only other prominent comparison that I can make to this is when the vast majority of the Jewish Community continues to support and contribute to the same Democrat Party whose leader just threw them under the bus by not supporting the Jewish State of Israel, and in fact has totally supported the Palestinians who want to annihilate them.  It makes no sense to me.

By His Wounds We Are Healed

     There was a 33 year old Jewish man who died today.  Emmanuel Crist was beaten to death.  His wounds were sustained by a taunting crowd of on-lookers.  They spit at him as handlers and officials passed him by on the streets today.

     This is the same crowd that welcomed him in to the city just one week ago.  People waved at him in adulation.  This is a man who had humble beginnings, born in obscurity, impressed others with his wisdom and knowledge as a young boy, became a carpenter as he prepared for the healing fields and was admired by throngs by the speeches he made by the shores of local waters.  It is said that he fed thousands of people with hardly anything and his healing touch has been unmatched by any other.

     Young Optimists and of all people the local fishing community along with 10 other civic organizations became followers of this man in the short time that he spent sharing his wealth of knowledge in this area.  Many people had become close to Crist and know him in a very personal way.  Others have scorned him and felt that he was forcing himself into there eletist group.

     The words that he spoke seem to attract and sooth those that would believe him.  But those same words drove others to the point of not only persecution but eventual execution.  In three days there will be services for this new found leader.  They say he has saved them from their own past.  One of the messages that Crist has sent to these followers is that he was going to build many mansions for them in his father's land.  This statement along with all the other accolades given to him in such a short period of time must have been what incited the rest of the people to want to beat him spit at him and eventually take him to his death.

     Something tells me that nothing, not even a grave, could stop this man.  I believe he will be in the hearts and minds of his followers for a long time to come.  It appears that Crist is the one thing that this world really could use right now.  I hope it's not too late for those that didn't follow him and put him to death.  I myself look forward to having one of those mansions he spoke of.  I would hate to see what happened to those that didn't believe that he would do what he said he would do.

     Spread the word about this man.  If more people were like him, there would probably be more peace and healing and joy in the world.  I'm sure many books will be written about the works and accomplishments of this man.  I would encourage others to read those books and find out what it takes to be able to live in one of those mansions..

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

     It has been a long hard winter!  Time to put away snow shovels, winter coats and mittens, and bring out the bats, baseball cap and mit.  I feel the national anthem should be Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

     I love this time of year!  Baseball has always been my favorite sport; the only one I ever came close to excelling at in school.  There is something about walking into a stadium like Wrigley Field and absorbing the whole atmosphere, the smell of hot dogs and the natural grass.  The feel of the electricity of the excitement and anticipation of a possible Cub win.

     There is just something about sitting up in the cheap seats or the bleachers and looking down on the field trying to spot your favorite player.  You can also look around the outside of the stadium and take in the breath taking view and beauty of Lake Michigan and the skyline surrounding Wrigleyville.  It's always great to see the flags in center field flapping outward toward Sheffield Ave.  When you see that you know there are going to be some homers hit that day.  That always gets the crowd roaring.

     Finally, the actual National Anthem is sung and the symbolic first pitch is thrown.  The umpire shouts "Play Ball".  And the real fun begins.  It's a great sight to see the crowd get into the game.  It's exciting to see what strategies will be taken by each manager in each situation on the field.  What makes it more exciting for me and what keeps my interest the most is keeping score and marking down every advance of every runner that ever gets on during the whole game.  Then as predicted, due to the flags flapping in the wind, the first homerun is hit onto Sheffield and the crowd goes wild as if the Cubs have won their first World Series since before World WarII.

     One more important part of going to a major league game for me is having a hot dog and a beer.  There is something special about that stadium dog.  And you have to have a beer to wash it down.  It must be special, like lined with gold, for as expensive they are.  Oh well this is like a vacation day and money can't be an object while your on vacation.  Then they play what I feel should be the National Anthem, but this time in the Seventh Inning Stretch, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".  This is the world's largest group Kareoke.  Everyone joins in.  It's ok if you're off key because the conductor is too.

     Finally the game is over.  The maintenance crew can climb out of the scoreboard now and hoist up the "W" flag after a Cub win.  Another end to another great day.  Now you have a few options.  You can either rush out of the stands and sit in a traffic jam for what feels like an eternity, or you can wander around the stadium to see if you can pick up any last minute souveniers.  Then you can either make your way down to the Addison St. Station to catch the train or if you did drive go out and get into a hopefully shorter version of the same traffic jam you would have sat in if you left earlier.

      To me, baseball is baseball.  So it really doesn't matter to me whether I'm lying on the couch watching Sunday Night baseball being described to me by Jon Miller and Joe Morgan on ESPN, or if I go to a Major League game in Chicago, a Lumber Kings game in Clinton, IA or if I go to Kiwanis Park in Fulton, IL to watch Sam play in the "Majors" there.  I just love to watch the game.  I miss my playing days.  I think I may have the distiction for being San Jose Grade School's most consistant bunter.  I miss skipping out of Miss Price's English class to go to a very impromptu baseball practice before a big game in the middle of the afternoon in high school.  I miss being able to take batting practice and running the bases.  I miss shagging flys in the outfield as we would watch a stray ball bounce out onto Route 136 as it just missed a semi or maybe even get caught richocheting in its wheel base as it rolled down the highway.  What ever the case may be, I am glad that the long winter is over and we can all take in a game or two at any of the afore mentioned parks.  As the great Cub Ernie Banks once said, it's always "a great day to play two."    

     Take MeOut to the Ball Game and Play Ball!!

I Will

     Deut. 30:19  This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.

     There are people in this world who say they are "pro-choice".  I happen to be as well, but I choose life.

     The following is a scenario not unlike a similar scenario that could, but has not necessarily happened in a neighborhood near you.

     227,  228 Oh here it is 229, The Pregnancy Center.  I sure hope they can help me.
     Hi, Welcome to The Pregnancy Center.  How are you today?
     Oh, Well, Okay, I...I guess.
     Oh, My name is Mary.  Have you been here before?
     No I just...I mean I don't...
     Just relax honey, come on in and sit down.  Would you like something to drink?  Water, juice?
     No, No thanks.  I would like to talk to some one though.
     Oh, of course.  That's what we're here for, but I still didn't catch your name.
     Oh, my name is Tonya.
     Well, it's very nice to meet you, Tonya.  Have a seat.  I have a very special person I would like for you to meet.  I'll be right back.

     Wow, she was nice.  I have a good feeling about tis place.  I sure hope they can help me beacuse I don't know what to do.

     Tonya, This is one of our councelors, Shemequa.  She would like for you to come back into her office where you can have a little privacy and chat with you.  You know get to know you a little.
     Glad to meet you, Tonya.  Come on back.

     Have a seat and tell me a little about yourself.
     Well, I'm 16.  I'm a junior in high school and I'm scared to death.  What else do you need to know?
     Oh, honey I can imagine how you feel.  I was 16 once myself.
     Yeah, but I think I'm pregnant.  Bet you don't know how that feels at 16.
     Well, Tonya,  that's where you're wrong.  I do know how it feels.  I was in your same shoes.  I was pregnant at 16 but I didn't always make the right choices.  I hope you do.
     Right choices?  What do you mean?
     Well,  I have my regrets, but we can talk about that later.

     I heard about this place in my church.  I hope you can help me.
     Well, I'm sure we can.  What exactly have you heard?
     That girls like me can come in here and talk to people and you can run some sorta test and help me with my baby.
     Yeah That's pretty much what we do here.  Do you know what kind of tests we do?
     Pregnancy tests, I guess.
     Well yeah that's part of it.  But we also can do Ultra-sounds as well.
     What's that?
     Well, that's where we take sort of a video form the outside of your tummy and see the baby move inside of you.  But first we need to varify whether you really are pregnant.
     Oh, I'm pretty sure of that.  I missed...you know.
     Oh, yeah, I do know.  Like I said I've been there.
     Yeah, you said that before.  Tell me more.
     Well, let's start the first test then we'll talk while we're waiting.

     Like I said I was 16 when I found out I was pregnant.  I was lost just like you, but I didn't make very good choices.  At least your here now I can can help you.  We'll pray for you and your young child.  We will give you as much councelling and love as we can give you.  We will provide some basics for your baby like clothing, diapers, lotion, powder etc.  Can we get the father and your parents involved?  It might help you get through this whole thing.
     Not the father.  As soon as he heard I might be pregnant he skipped town.  My parents will kill me.
     You might be surprised about that.  Would you mind if we talk to them?
     If you think they would help, sure.

     Shemequa, these are Tonya's parents.  They wanted to be involved with Tonya and the baby so they came to see you.
     It's very nice to meet you.  Won't you come in and have a seat.?
     Tonya just felt so uncomfortable about all this.  We hope you don't mind us coming to talk to you without her.  She said you have been through this yourself.
     Yes...Yes I have.  I wish there was a place like this in my neighborhood when I was that age.  I unfortunately took an alternative route.  I later met a friend named Jesus and he put me on the right path and now I'm here trying to help young girls make better decisions.
  Tonya said you can do an Ultra-sound.  How does that work?

     Tonya we went to The Pregnancy Center today.  Shemequa seems nice.
     Oh, they're  all realy nice there.  I'm just scared.  What am I going to do?
     Honey, your mom and I have decided we want to be with you through this whole process.
     Oh, daddy.  Thank you I thought you would be ashamed of me.
     Well, honey, we all make mistakes.  We really should go down there and do that Ultra-sound.

     Shemequa,  Tonya and her parents are here.  They say that they want to do an Ultra-sound.
     That sounds great.  Come on back.  We'll get started.

     Oh, would you look at that.  He's moving around.
      It's a he?
     Yeah, you can tell right there.
      Is that really his heart beat?
     Yeah, we can detect that and determine his sex very early on.  he can also feel pain very early on.  This is the thing I wished I would have been able to see and do when I was in Tonya's position.  The place I went just wanted to herd me through and collect the money.

     Now we have some decisions to make.
     Now that I've seen the life inside of me I know one thing I'm not going to do.
     That's the choice I wanted you to make.  The next thing is though will you raise this little boy?
     I'm only 16 what do I know about raising a baby?
     Honey, you know we're here to help, too.
     Well, you know there still is one alternative.
     No I already said I wasn't gonna do that.
     No I mean that there are families out there who would love to adopt this young life.
     How does that work?

     Tonya, Now that you have gone through all of this there is one thing I need to ask you?
     What is it?
     Do you know Jesus?  Does He live in your heart?
     I told you I go to church.
     That's not what I asked.  Does He live in your heart?
     How do I get Him to do that?

      Let me tell you something first.  I have said a couple of times I would tell you about myself when I was 16 years old and pregnant.
     Yeah what of it?
     Well when I was pregnant I did not have the help of the father or my parents. 
     I was very lucky.
     You were blessed. That's what I found out later that I am.  I found 2 things.  Shenequa means "God's Blessings".  And that there is a God that we can come to and lay all of our cares at his feet.  Even though I aborted my baby, I now know that God forgives.  He forgave me and He can forgive you of all of your sins if your merely ask Him into your heart.  So the question I have for you Will you allow God to forgive you of your sins and ask His son Jesus into your heart?
     I will!

WIll I

     Shamequa Johnson, Shamequa Johnson.
      Here I am.
     Girl, do you know how long I've been calling your name?
     I'm sorry ma'am.  I just got lost again.  That's been happening a lot since...
    Oh, I know.  Don't worry about it child and follow me.
     What will you be doing?
     Says here you think you're pregnant.
     Yes ma'am.
     Well,  we're gonna find out for sure.
     What are you gonna do?
     You're gonna pee in this cup, then I'll have to take a little blood so go on in there.

     Here ya go.  Will gettin' my blood hurt?
     No, just sit here and relax.

     See now that wasn't so bad was it?
     No.  What's next?
     We'll run a quick test for ya.
     I've just been so scared since Jamal and me....
     I know honey.   You want to talk about it?
     I just seen a big billboard as I was walkin' here just now.
     The one talking about girls like you?
     Yeah, it said the most dangerous place for an African-American baby is in its momma's womb.  What does that mean?
     Oh sugar, don't worry about that sign.  Them people just tryin' to scare you.  You're in the right place.  You're not the only one this has ever happened to and it's for sure you ain't gonna be the last.
     What do you mean?
     Honey, 60% of the girls like you in this city come here.  We'll take care of everything.  It's your body.  You deserve your freedom.
     I don't want no baby.
     I know honey.  We'll take good care of that.  Just go in here and sit while we check your tests.

     Shamequa,  we have your results.  Come on back, child.
     What what does it say?
     Honey we'll talk back here.  Sit down.
     What does it say.  I'm pregnant.  I just know it.
     Honey you knew that before you walked in here today.
     Yeah,  I guess.  I was just hopin'....  What am I gonna do?
     Honey I told you.  We'll take care of everything.  Girl your age needs to be free.  You don't need to have the burden of carryin' no baby with you every where you go.  You need to enjoy life, have fun.
     What about that sign?  What if I don't have no money?
     Honey I done told you.  Those people are just tryin' to scare you.  Ain't nothin' gonna happen to you.  You can thank Roe and the Supremes for that.  Besides it's ok if you don't have money.
      What are you talking about Roe & the Supremes?
      You know honey,  when we won the the right.  It's our body.  The court said we can do with it whatever we see fit.  You're too young to be burdened by a baby.  We'll take care of everything.
     I don't have no money.  How much this gonna cost?
     Honey, we got that taken care of too.  This is legal.  The Supremes say so, so we got plenty of money for girls like you.

     Alright Shamequa, we're ready for you now.  Come on back and you'll be out living your own life again very soon and you won't have to worry about a thing.
     Are you sure everything's gonna be alright?
     Honey, The Supremes gave you this right way back in 1973.  You deserve to do with your body what you want to.  You're too young to worry about havin' a baby.  Let's get you ready.
     All right I'm ready.

     See, Shamequa that didn't take so long.  Now you go on out there and have some fun like a girl should
     Ok.  I guess I don't have anything to worry about no more.     Will I?

I Can Breath in a Small Town

     I have lived all over the state of Illinois.  I have spent my whole life in Illinois.  Illinois to most outsiders is Chicago.  There is more to Illinois than Chicago. 

     I was raised on a farm just outside of one of Illinois' smallest communities, San Jose.  The town is now mostly known because of it's facebook page of  "I know how to pronounce San Jose".  Because nowadays, there really is not  much left to the town except of course for the one thing that is now mandated in order for a town to exist,  and that's a Casey's.

     I've seen it all in a small town.  Had myself a ball in a small town.  Taught to fear Jesus in a small town.  Had myself  a ball in a small town where there's little opportunity.  My parents lived in that same small town.  I used to day dream in a small town.  That's probably where they'll bury me.

     John Cougar Melancamp wrote that song about his childhood small town of Bloomington, IN.  But that small town has nothing on the small town I grew up in.  His small town was probably 30,000 people.  My small town was lucky to be 600 people.  I could walk up and down the hall ways of my high school and name all 115  people who occupied that entire high school.  Heck there probably was a time when I could walk up and down most every street in town and name the people who lived in most every house.

     There really wasn't a whole lot of anything in this small town at the time that I grew up there.  There were 2 gas stations.  And I mean gas stations not today's convenience stores.  This is where Lloyd or John, depending on which station you went to (one across from the other on the only highway going through town U.S. Rte 136) would come out and greet you by name and ask how much gas you wanted them to put into your tank for you, as they popped the hood to check your oil.  The driver and Loyd or John would get each other caught up on the latest bit of gossip in town and you would be on your way.

     There was also one little cafe in town that probably served the best pizza burger that I've had even to this day.  Another place to go to hear the latest gossip and to watch the famers nurse a cup or 5 cups of coffee as they solved the world's problems.  They could slide down to the cafe while their grain truck was being unloaded of its corn by Keith at the grain elevator at the top of the hill.  The Mrs. might take a huge gamble and call the cafe using the 4 digit phone number that was assigned to it to see if John Smith (really his name) could walk over to the only grocery store in town so he could get a carton of milk and a loaf of bread from Claude.  Graham's store was good with the charge accounts because he knew his loyal customers were good for it.  Almost forgot, I still remember our phone number was 3606 and could be reached by any one from Delavan to Mason City.  Then if you went down that street slightly you could stop into the post office to see if you knew any one there.  Of course you did.  Then if you needed a little lumber, Bill always was ready to load you up at the next business along the busiest street in town (next to 136).

     For the people who still had livestock they could go clear over to the east side of town, about 6 blocks away and see either Bill or Dick for their feed needs at the feed store.  That would be another place to get the latest gossip as well.  I used to love listening to Dick and my dad tell stories to each other and lies about each other and then laugh their stupid heads off while they were doing it.  If you haven't caught on by now,  this small town was pretty much a farming community.  So like any other small farm town you also had to have an tractor dealer and repair shop.  So when the combine or tractor broke down you would have to make a trip over to Woll's tractor shop.  Ya know it never really dawned on me then but now I think back at it and remeber most of the tractors around the area were John Deere.  Woll's shop was suppose to be a White dealership.  It's no wonder they went out of business.

     Speaking of Woll's,  they used to keep that town a buzzing with dress shops, stores etc.  Along with W. G. Kelley, they owned most of the rest of the town.  Good people and good shrood business people.  Nuf said.  They also had an interest, a strong interest in the Tri-County state Bank.  Again the only bank in town as well.  It was called Tri-County because our fair town had the distinction of bordering 3 counties.  That's pretty weird seeing how small the town really was.

     Even though the town didn't really have a lot to offer in the way of commerce or enrtainment for that matter, there were many advantages to living in a small town.  A thought just occurred to me though.  For nothing really substantial going on in this town, there sure were a lot of places to gather to get caught up on the latest gossip.  I guess that was the entertainment.  Any way getting back to the advantages of a small town.  It was great knowing every one.  You could trust every one and didn't have to worry about being obducted or robbed.  Heck I bet to this day many of the doors go unlocked 90% of the time.  By knowing  every one, that meant you knew your teachers, too and they knew you.  They even knew your siblings and your cousins and could compare your good qualities and your not so good qualities to them.  But that also meant that you could get by with things sometimes too.  I don't know how many times I got out of class just to take care of important things like playing baseball or even car shopping with Miss Price.

     Because there weren't many kids to choose from you always made the sport's team without the worry of try outs.  Although I do remember the girls having to try out for the cheerleading squad.  But that was okay because we would have an assembly that got us out of class to vote on who we wanted to be the cheerleaders for that year for the one sport, basketball, that we had cheerleaders for.  Again, in a small school you don't have enough to field a football team.  Thankfully there were plenty of other extra-curricular activities.  You could be in Donnie-Bill's FFA.  Again, farming community so that was  a biggie.  There was also Mr. Schoeburn's plays.  Play practice consumed about 90% of the school year and about that many of the student body.  Then there was Zim's band and swing choir.  To be honest I feel we always had the very best band around and we can all thank Zim for that one.  And there was my favorite, baseball.  That was coached by either Donnie-Bill (that's sir to you), Coach Coriell, or Turtle Johnson depending on which era you played in.  Another activity that was very popular were the school dances that were held in the high school gym.  Decorating for that was always a chore and a big secret because they didn't want the theme of the dance to be released along with the appearance of the decorations until the night of the dance.

     Now many years have gone by since I have even lived in that small town.  The only reason I have left to go back there any more is to see my mom who still lives on that same farm that I grew up on.  Well that and every 5 years I do go back to the all school alumni banquet.  How many towns can brag about that one now.  The Alumni Committe plans a big suare every year to honor grads from SJHS every 5 yrs.  This major event is held in my old Methodist church where I spent many a Wednesday nights practicing for choir and many Sunday nights joining with friends for MYF.  I loved and still love the events in that old church. Actually, thinking back, there were a lot of things I loved about that little town.  At the time I really couldn't wait to get out of there.  A great philosopher once said "Everybody knows this is nowhere."  It may be.  It may only be a wide spot in the road.  Every one of those businesses that I mentioned may be gone now, but damn it, that's still my home town.  No one can take that away from me.